Deputy Premier and Interior Minister
Matteo Salvini on Friday launched a fresh attack on the
Sea-Watch NGO after it refused to take 52 migrants it rescued
off Libya this week to Tripoli.
The Sea Watch 3 ship, which is close to the Italian island of
Lampedusa, at one stage seemed to have turned towards Malta, but
Salvini said it is not going there.
"No Malta," the League leader said via Twitter.
"The #SeaWatch NGO ship has changed route again: it is
swaying in the Mediterranean playing a game on the backs of the
immigrants, even though it asked for a port and obtained it in
Tripoli".
Sea-Watch has said Tripoli is not a port of safety.
"Forcibly taking rescued people back to a war-torn country,
having them imprisoned and tortured, is a crime," the German NGO
said.
Sea-Watch has on several occasions sought to challenge
Salvini's policy of closing Italy's ports to NGO-run
search-and-rescue ships.
The government, meanwhile, has just passed a new decree that
would see NGO ships that bring migrants rescued at sea to Italy
without permission fined up to 50,000 euros.
"We are witnessing the umpteenth show," Salvini said.
"They say they are good, but they are kidnapping women and
children in the middle of the sea.
"#closedports for them!".
Premier Giuseppe Conte said that "we want certain behaviour
to be a bit more transparent on the part of the NGOs too, I
don't want to lay it on but we are asking for greater
transparency.
"The coast guard intervenes, it has already made several
interventions, it seems in this last case there has not been
full tranparency from the parties".
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